Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kalanth 04-20-06, 03:40 PM	With all the confusing rules out there for ship to ship combat, I am a bit brain dead on what I would use for this particular situation. Basically an Airship owned and operated by pirates would be flying low in an attempt to bored an Elemental Gallion that a PC of mine has command of. The airship would be dropping ropes and repelling pirates onto the deck of the sea faring vessel in an attempt to capture the ship and its cargo. What I am looking for are some hard and fast suggestions that could play into this combat. I have books like Stormwreck and the Draconomicon (flying combat), but really I am befuddled on how to competently put these together.
Kreistor1 04-20-06, 04:51 PM	I can't quote chapter and verse, but it seems to me that airborne weaponry was not developed during the Last War, while sea vessels have always needed to be armed. But, I have no qualms helping you in any way you need. First, my biggest suggestion: discard everything WotC says about vessel to vessel combat. Go with what you know and are comfortable with. If that means cannon, then bleedin' put cannon on the ships. That's what I do. I tailor the cannon to the Elemental style of Eberron, but they're cannon nonetheless. My own weaponry for sea vessels includes nothing targetting air pirates, though they may press into service the rotary deck gun. This is because airships weren't used in the Last War in my campaign. The weapons vaguely resemble cannon, have charges equal to the cost of a wand shot, are only reusable 1/10 rounds. They have much shorter range, really only to reflect that long range shooting didn't do much in the 1800's. 100-150ft effective range. Air vessels like the Elemental Airships are relatively fragile compared to sea borne ships, if you use our world as a model. They need to be very light, which makes them structurally weak and incapable of absorbing the tremendous forces an ocean going vessel is capable of soaking up. Airborne weaponry would need to be much less violent in nature. I think I'd start with a basic bombardment weapon, personally. That was historically the first weapon launched from air. Guy dropped mortars out of his cockpit, and the machine guns came later. Put a mixture of Alchemist's Fire and Oil in a thin metal container, and it ought to make a good incendiary bomb. It's a terror weapon, mostly, since ship decks do not burn well. It works because the sea ship doesn't have anything to shoot back with. Just keep dropping them until the enemy surrenders. How it works really depends on how you want the story to go. Using the "no airships in combat in the Last War" model, the Pirates are making things up as they go along. Whatever they use doesn't have to be effective unless you want it to be. If they are supposed to be in a tough fight, then don't let the Air Pirate weaponry be terribly effective. If you want the Air Pirate to win, advance the weaponry until the ship's captain sees no choice but to surrender.
talislan 04-20-06, 08:49 PM	War ships should have at least one mage, preferably more and an eberron military force should carry a supply of fireball wands. You don't need special weapons when you have magic. Pirate vessel hangs above the galleon. A couple of fireballs are dropped over the side and then the casters use their own vessel as cover against any retaliation. The ship on top will win very quickly...unless the mark of passage sailors dimension leap up into the vessel above them and take it on Die Hard style. Magic, and particularly Eberron leave so many options that you can't hang on historical precedent or rely on any particular set of rules.
stembolt 04-21-06, 01:08 AM	With all the confusing rules out there for ship to ship combat, I am a bit brain dead on what I would use for this particular situation. Basically an Airship owned and operated by pirates would be flying low in an attempt to bored an Elemental Gallion that a PC of mine has command of. The airship would be dropping ropes and repelling pirates onto the deck of the sea faring vessel in an attempt to capture the ship and its cargo. What I am looking for are some hard and fast suggestions that could play into this combat. I have books like Stormwreck and the Draconomicon (flying combat), but really I am befuddled on how to competently put these together. You are going in the wrong direction. What level are your PCs and what is the composition of the enemy. Obviously a renegade from house Lyrander but who else? Also what cargo? A flying ship is so expensive that one could retire after selling the ship. The cargo therefore must be very expensive or needed for a cause (like a religion or nation). Any pirate flying ship is unique.
Kalanth 04-21-06, 02:29 PM	What level are your PCs and what is the composition of the enemy. Obviously a renegade from house Lyrander but who else? The characters are 8th and 9th level respectively (Valenar Ranger 6 / Revenant Blad 2, Aerenal Swashbuckler 5 / Scout 1 / Legendary Captain 2, Halfling Rogue 8, and a Human Psion 9). The halfling has a lesser dragonmark of healing (forgot name of the mark). None of them have any affiliation with Lyrander. The story goes that a contingent of Lord of Blades shock troops stormed the air ship and captured the vessel, then went into a wild persuit for the party and their Gallion. <The Gallion is in the party possession due to some binding of an elemental and a bit of training on how to opperate the ship. About the only thing that makes it easy to move is because the captain hired a House Lyrandar helmsmen> Also what cargo? A flying ship is so expensive that one could retire after selling the ship. The cargo therefore must be very expensive or needed for a cause (like a religion or nation). Any pirate flying ship is unique. The cargo is a Kalashtar girl that is the lone living decendent of the Taratai Quori, the one line of quori that was eliminated from Eberron many years ago. There are many complicated ties to the Lord of Blades and the Inspired in a twisted contractual deal that would leave Khorvaire in the hands of the Lobster. Latter they will find out that the deal with the Inspired and Lobster went bad, and the LoB pulls out in a major and dramatic moment. But for the most part, this airship is attacking because the warforged wants revenge for a portion of his original mission that was failed (long story short, the forged lost a race to the PC which resulted in not being the one to retrieve the girl).
stembolt 04-22-06, 02:34 AM	Here are some ideas: Have the ship fly over and drop a stone golem on the elemental vessel. While they are distracted a few minions are invisibled and feather falled onto the ships rigging. The goal is to damage the rigging and elemental containment. Wait for night and cast darkness or similar magic to conceal the ships flame ring. Sneak up on the pcs ship and try to get aboard stealthily. Win or loose fly away. Essentially just keep sneaking up on the PCs. Scry on them until they run into trouble and then attack. Harass them from the air while a chull drills a hole in the hull. When you board the ship bring three changelings who can look like the girl and that can cast mirror image. keep throwing oil at them from up high.
MysticTheurge 04-22-06, 08:54 AM	If the attackers are Quori, chances are they're psionic. A few nomads 'porting down to the ship, grabbing/attacking the girl, and porting back, would be a decent technique. You could also, in that case focus on tactical person to person combat, while "everyone else" took care of the ship to ship combat in the background. The ship to ship combat should go the way the person to person combat goes. You could look at Heroes of Battle for ideas on how to have your PCs deal in single, isolated fights, while still affecting the larger outcome.